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Tea Tree, Broad-leaved

Broad-leaved tea tree is a moderately durable timber commonly used in general construction and for fence posts, railway sleepers and mine props.

Other Names

Brown Tea-tree, Paperbark, Cajuput Tree, Weeping Tea Tree, Weeping Paperbark, Broad-leaved Paperbark, Melaleuca quinquenervia, Melaleuca viridiflora

Botanical Name

Melaleuca leucadendron

Common Form
Sawn
Species Type
Hardwood
a close-up of a wood grain

Few species of so-called 'paperbarks' - the larger members of the genus Melaleuca - have commercial uses apart from in the production of honey and essential oils. The timber of Melaleuca leucadendron, however - known to have been used by Indigenous Australians in the manufacture of dugout canoes - has a history of use in a variety of commercial applications including railway sleepers, fence posts and mine props.

Broad-leaved tea tree is widely used in general construction, for flooring, boat knees (cut from the natural shapes of tree branches) and oyster rack structural members (with bark intact). The bark is used for lining fernery baskets and for making bark paintings. The cork from the bark is used for infants' pillows and mattresses. Small stems of tea tree with bark intact make an attractive fencing material.

The heartwood of this species is pinkish-brown in colour. Sapwood is distinctively paler. Grain is often interlocked and the timber exhibits a fine and even texture.

Broad-leaved tea tree occurs in northern New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Small quantities are occasionally imported from Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Malaysia.